GPU AVC render? at DVinfo.net

Dave Stern · April 6th, 2011, 07:50 PM

has anyone gotten the CUDA GPU interface to demonstrate that it's working to use the GPU for sony AVC template renders? I tired a few and the nvidia utility shows no GPU activity and shows the same time when rendering using 'auto' (use GPU if avail.) as it does on CPU only.

I posted this in the vegas forum but didn't get any more info other than one user who found the same as I did, but when he (?) rendered w/ CS5 and CUDA got great speed increases (on XP I believe).

video card is a CUDA enabled GTX 470 running on win XP SP3 (I wonder if that's my problem).

anyone have any luck with this? it is a missing feature?

note I've posted this on the sony forum but no replies

Mike Dulay · April 7th, 2011, 03:44 PM

I use the CPU meter on mine and I can see that my i7 930 doesn't go over 20% when rendering Sony AVC (Rendering using GPU if available). For the same Cineform clip it goes to 34% when switched to CPU only. I guess the source codec has some impact on utilization.

Dave Stern · April 7th, 2011, 06:33 PM

Mike -

- what OS are you on, and
- have you run the nvidia utility to show GPU utilization when rendering?

Mike Dulay · April 8th, 2011, 05:27 AM

Win 7 Professional 64-bit, machine is an HPE-380T with I7 930, 24GB RAM and Nvidia GTX-260 1.5GB RAM. Sony Vegas 10c 64-bit is what I use primarily, though I still have my Vegas 8e 32-bit installed. I've also got Adobe CS5 but I don't use premier. AE doesn't use CUDA as far as I know.

I've never thought to run an Nvidia resource utility while rendering before (googled, can't guess which one you use). I just measure if its faster at rendering than just CPU and watch that meter app on the sidebar. It takes me about 27 minutes to render a 9 minute video. Source clips are usually embedded projects with Canon 7D MOV files and Cineform Neoscene AVI. I do notice it slows down when dealing with Vegas effects.

I don't know how the nvidia utility works and if they are measuring the whole GPU or just a portion. While rendering I've been able to run Firefox 4.0 (supposed to have GPU accel) and open other MP4 files in MPC. From that I'm guessing the Sony AVC might only use a portion of the GPU. It's quite probable the acceleration only applies to the recompression while all other parts are still CPU.

Dave Stern · April 9th, 2011, 08:12 AM

Mike - thanks for the info .. I am wondering whether win7 / 64 bit (your system) vs. win xp sp3 / 32 bit (my system) makes a difference for CUDA usage from vegas .. I am thinking it might (although I can't seem to find any info on OS rqmts for CUDA usage in vegas - I'll check back on my sony board posts).

the GPU utility I use is EVGA Precision, which is the utility that came with my EVGA branded nvidia GTX 470 card. You may have to go to the web site of your card maker to get the utility that they ship (if there is one) .. my guess is that nvidia provides the hooks for getting the GPU utilization, board temp, etc. and the brand of card maker must then write a utility (or buy one oem'd).

no doubt the cineform intermediate files will take more processor to crunch through which is why unless you compare apples to apples (e.g. cineform with GPU vs. the same cineform encode with CPU only), I think it's hard to tell GPU impact on the encode. And I bet you're right, the GPU would be for encode only, I don't think vegas can use GPU acceleration for effects processing (although that should be next for them too IMO).

John Cline · April 10th, 2011, 04:56 PM

Vegas uses the GPU for AVC encoding only, it does not use it to accelerate AVC on the timeline.

For what it's worth, I use the reference drivers directly from the nVidia web site.

Dave Stern · April 11th, 2011, 07:21 AM

John - thanks. I just can't figure out how to get it to do that. (on Win XP SP3). Render time is the same CPU only vs. GPU if available, and the GPU monitor shows 0% utilization. Rendering timeline with no fx to a sony AVC template (really a transcode from mpeg2 to AVC).

Mike Dulay · April 11th, 2011, 11:27 PM

The drivers that came with my video card don't appear to have that function. I suspect that your EVGA specific drivers/utilities may be interfering with CUDA. Have you tried H.264 to H.264 conversion to see if there is still no effect? The fastest renders I've had were converting from Canon MOV files (H.264) 1080p 48Mbit to Sony AVC 720p 5Mbit without any effects. So that's a resize operation with a decrease in bitrate which hopefully will take place mostly in GPU.

If you find that GPU time doesn't improve I would uninstall the EVGA software and replace it with drivers direct from NVIDIA. Like John, I'm using the reference drivers. The HP supplied drivers were the same only release older.

Dave Stern · April 12th, 2011, 06:26 PM

hey Mike, thanks. The drivers are the nvidia drivers, downloaded from the nvidia site. the utility that monitors GPU usage is an EVGA utility but I'd be surprised if that interfered (but one never knows).

I do think you have a good idea to try a few and see on which ones the GPU kicks in .. maybe I'll do that .. good thought!

I'll try to post back anything else I find

April 6th, 2011, 07:50 PM	#1
Dave Stern Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Northern New Jersey Posts: 391	GPU AVC render? has anyone gotten the CUDA GPU interface to demonstrate that it's working to use the GPU for sony AVC template renders? I tired a few and the nvidia utility shows no GPU activity and shows the same time when rendering using 'auto' (use GPU if avail.) as it does on CPU only. I posted this in the vegas forum but didn't get any more info other than one user who found the same as I did, but when he (?) rendered w/ CS5 and CUDA got great speed increases (on XP I believe). video card is a CUDA enabled GTX 470 running on win XP SP3 (I wonder if that's my problem). anyone have any luck with this? it is a missing feature? note I've posted this on the sony forum but no replies

April 7th, 2011, 03:44 PM	#2
Mike Dulay Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Somerville, NJ Posts: 304	Re: GPU AVC render? I use the CPU meter on mine and I can see that my i7 930 doesn't go over 20% when rendering Sony AVC (Rendering using GPU if available). For the same Cineform clip it goes to 34% when switched to CPU only. I guess the source codec has some impact on utilization. __________________ DIY, 35mm, HV20: http://www.primitivebuteffective.net

April 7th, 2011, 06:33 PM	#3
Dave Stern Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Northern New Jersey Posts: 391	Re: GPU AVC render? Mike - - what OS are you on, and - have you run the nvidia utility to show GPU utilization when rendering?

April 8th, 2011, 05:27 AM	#4
Mike Dulay Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Somerville, NJ Posts: 304	Re: GPU AVC render? Win 7 Professional 64-bit, machine is an HPE-380T with I7 930, 24GB RAM and Nvidia GTX-260 1.5GB RAM. Sony Vegas 10c 64-bit is what I use primarily, though I still have my Vegas 8e 32-bit installed. I've also got Adobe CS5 but I don't use premier. AE doesn't use CUDA as far as I know. I've never thought to run an Nvidia resource utility while rendering before (googled, can't guess which one you use). I just measure if its faster at rendering than just CPU and watch that meter app on the sidebar. It takes me about 27 minutes to render a 9 minute video. Source clips are usually embedded projects with Canon 7D MOV files and Cineform Neoscene AVI. I do notice it slows down when dealing with Vegas effects. I don't know how the nvidia utility works and if they are measuring the whole GPU or just a portion. While rendering I've been able to run Firefox 4.0 (supposed to have GPU accel) and open other MP4 files in MPC. From that I'm guessing the Sony AVC might only use a portion of the GPU. It's quite probable the acceleration only applies to the recompression while all other parts are still CPU. __________________ DIY, 35mm, HV20: http://www.primitivebuteffective.net

April 9th, 2011, 08:12 AM	#5
Dave Stern Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Northern New Jersey Posts: 391	Re: GPU AVC render? Mike - thanks for the info .. I am wondering whether win7 / 64 bit (your system) vs. win xp sp3 / 32 bit (my system) makes a difference for CUDA usage from vegas .. I am thinking it might (although I can't seem to find any info on OS rqmts for CUDA usage in vegas - I'll check back on my sony board posts). the GPU utility I use is EVGA Precision, which is the utility that came with my EVGA branded nvidia GTX 470 card. You may have to go to the web site of your card maker to get the utility that they ship (if there is one) .. my guess is that nvidia provides the hooks for getting the GPU utilization, board temp, etc. and the brand of card maker must then write a utility (or buy one oem'd). no doubt the cineform intermediate files will take more processor to crunch through which is why unless you compare apples to apples (e.g. cineform with GPU vs. the same cineform encode with CPU only), I think it's hard to tell GPU impact on the encode. And I bet you're right, the GPU would be for encode only, I don't think vegas can use GPU acceleration for effects processing (although that should be next for them too IMO).

April 10th, 2011, 04:56 PM	#6
John Cline Major Player Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico USA Posts: 333	Re: GPU AVC render? Vegas uses the GPU for AVC encoding only, it does not use it to accelerate AVC on the timeline. For what it's worth, I use the reference drivers directly from the nVidia web site.

April 11th, 2011, 07:21 AM	#7
Dave Stern Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Northern New Jersey Posts: 391	Re: GPU AVC render? John - thanks. I just can't figure out how to get it to do that. (on Win XP SP3). Render time is the same CPU only vs. GPU if available, and the GPU monitor shows 0% utilization. Rendering timeline with no fx to a sony AVC template (really a transcode from mpeg2 to AVC).

April 11th, 2011, 11:27 PM	#8
Mike Dulay Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Somerville, NJ Posts: 304	Re: GPU AVC render? The drivers that came with my video card don't appear to have that function. I suspect that your EVGA specific drivers/utilities may be interfering with CUDA. Have you tried H.264 to H.264 conversion to see if there is still no effect? The fastest renders I've had were converting from Canon MOV files (H.264) 1080p 48Mbit to Sony AVC 720p 5Mbit without any effects. So that's a resize operation with a decrease in bitrate which hopefully will take place mostly in GPU. If you find that GPU time doesn't improve I would uninstall the EVGA software and replace it with drivers direct from NVIDIA. Like John, I'm using the reference drivers. The HP supplied drivers were the same only release older. __________________ DIY, 35mm, HV20: http://www.primitivebuteffective.net

April 12th, 2011, 06:26 PM	#9
Dave Stern Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Northern New Jersey Posts: 391	Re: GPU AVC render? hey Mike, thanks. The drivers are the nvidia drivers, downloaded from the nvidia site. the utility that monitors GPU usage is an EVGA utility but I'd be surprised if that interfered (but one never knows). I do think you have a good idea to try a few and see on which ones the GPU kicks in .. maybe I'll do that .. good thought! I'll try to post back anything else I find